Game Night
by SonadowStories
Summary: SONADOW. Sonic and Shadow just wanted a peaceful and quiet evening together. Their date is simple and involves only a couch, some snacks, and video games. Or it was supposed to.


_So! Apparently I am not dead yet! And here is the one-shot to prove it!_

 _Decided to try out a completely diffrent style of writing this time around. No more first person perspectives._

* * *

 **Game Night**

Everything was ready for tonight.

Sonic the Hedgehog had the drinks, there were plenty of snacks for when they would inevitably crave something, both of their schedules were free, and Tails was on Angel Island helping Knuckles set up some hightech surveillance around the Master Emerald, something he agreed to after weeks and weeks of the boy trying to convince him why some tech really wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Sonic and Shadow, they had the house to themselves for the next few hours.

"So what exactly do you have planned for us tonight?" The cobalt one could hear Shadow call out to him from the living room while he got them something to drink from the kitchen.

"Well," Sonic started as he grabbed both of their cans of soda, walking out of the room to join him on the couch.

"How about we make it a nice and relaxing game night?" He finished while he handed him his drink. Shadow eyed it strangely as he still wasn't all that familiar with drinks that weren't water or coffee, but he accepted it for now as he took a sip and was only mildly taken aback by the bubbles.

A soft chuckle escaped Sonic as he moved to sit down next to the other hedgehog, for which he swiftly received a playful glare.

"Are you quite done yet?" Shadow asked as Sonic dropped down and shot him a grin, placing his can down on the coffee table, with a mutter from his mate about using a coaster.

Even now, a good few years after his release from suspended animation, Shadow was still slowly adapting to life in a modern world outside of the laboratories of Ark or G.U.N. It was a slow process, but not as bad as it probably could've been.

"Anyway, I thought we could play some video games. You mentioned a little while back that you'd like to try out some games, so here we are!" Sonic told him as he took the stacks of games he already had ready on the glass surface of the table in front of them for him to choose from.

Interest piqued, Shadow placed his own drink down and scooted to sit closer to the edge to get a look at their choices for tonight.

"We got some FPS games, some fantasy, RPG, pretty much anything you can think of. Tails and I, we don't really have one genre we stick to." Sonic said as Shadow got to work and looked at all of them.

Almost immediately did he set all the first-person shooters he came across aside, deciding that he handled enough guns during the day at work.

"No love for 'Alien'?" Sonic asked as the other was about to put that aside too, but suddenly hesitated.

"No, why? Is it good?" Shadow asked as he took a second look at the cover.

"Well, it's not so much as a first-person shooter as it is a survival horror. Might be more up your alley." Cobalt suggested, to which Shadow responded by giving him an incredulous look, smirking ever so slightly.

"Are you telling me this because you genuinely think horror games might be something for me or because this game is about aliens?" He asked and it was a legitimately good question.

Sonic shrugged as if to say 'who knows' before he leant back in the couch, earning himself an amused huff. Though that game did not join the stack of the unwanted again.

They were both more than a little subdued than usual just because they were tired. Blue from kicking ass again and black from his demanding job at G.U.N as a one of a kind agent.

Shadow has a position in the military that's his very own. Made up on the spot the minute he got hired because of his unique abilities and expertise.

It took Shadow a little while to settle for something because he had no idea what he would find enjoyable and what not. Of course, he's played board games before, but no actual video games. So this would be a first for him.

Eventually he decided to settle for a simple racing game, figuring that an easy game would do to help him get used to virtual games such as this. It'd be a good introduction at least. And it was about racing. Something they often did in real life when they were just a tad bit younger.

Cobalt and ebony still did it, just not as often as they used to. G.U.N liked to keep Shadow busy.

Which was a shame. For the longest time roping Shadow into another one of their races was Sonic's way of getting to know the darker hedgehog besides the battlefield before they got together and Sonic suggested they date.

Well, now he guessed they would get to do it virtually too.

And Sonic wasn't planning on going easy on Shadow now either.

One hedgehog got the right console ready, Shadow sipped some more of his drink as he waited without pulling faces for once, and Sonic popped the game in. Settling down besides him on the couch, he got each of them a console and gave a quick rundown of all the controls while the game loaded up.

It seemed like Shadow got the hang of it pretty quickly and he was already promising his mate a merciless beatdown.

Sonic was looking forward to it.

They got the game started, chose their characters and vehicles, picked a good first track to begin with, got the countdown going, and...

A phone vibrating and beeping caused Sonic to pause the game. He took it off the coffee table to take a look.

Shadow watched with mild interest, but his expression quickly turned sour when blue let out a groan. He could already guess what was wrong.

"Eggman is leading another attack a few cities over. Gotta go." Sonic told his partner as he got up, placing the controller down on the table and putting his phone away in the back pocket of his jeans.

A while back Tails had designed a special app for all of them to install on their phones. It was made to help alert them of any kinds of attacks much sooner than normal so they could react quicker using the public's help. They would press a button on the app and one of them, usually Sonic, would go to check it out.

And yes, that has been missused in the beginning. A lot. So now they were only being notified when multiple alerts were coming from one area and even then there had been one or two instances when they were made fools off, but it was still one of Tails' greater ideas.

If anything, it did result in one good thing. It motivated Shadow to discover all that his phone could do besides call, text, and photograph.

"Hmpf, just a few robots, nothing that can't be taken care off in a couple of minutes. I don't believe my help is needed." He stated after taking a quick look at the app himself before placing it back down on the glass top of the coffee table, where his controller now rested too.

"Yeah, shouldn't take too long! See you on the flipside!" Using a catchphrase Shadow had long ago deemed his mate was too old for, Sonic left the house and sped off towards the city where he was needed.

It was a few places over, but it shouldn't take more than ten minutes or so. Maybe a bit more or maybe even a little less. All Sonic knew was that he wouldn't be making Shadow wait for too long.

* * *

Sonic had been wrong. He had been so, so wrong.

Eggman had planted several small groups of badniks in more than one city for him to deal with, only activating one group when he was almost done thrashing another. Like this, he got Sonic to run back and forth between cities and end up losing a whole hour. It was a whole hour he could've spend with Shadow.

Sonic believed he was genuinely pissed off with him. And not even in the usual 'oh, that evil rascal' type of way.

But he eventually destroyed all the robots, got to Eggman, gave him a serious piece of his mind before kicking his sorry butt back to Kingdom Come, and rushing home to where e knew Shadow was still waiting for him.

Or that's what he had been doing until Sonic returned and saw him exiting through the front door. He didn't even need to ask what was up.

"G.U.N called. Apparently there's been a break-in at a museum for a Chaos Emerald by badniks and I've been ordered to get it back." Shadow told him himself as soon as he reached him.

Immediately did Sonic know that this hadn't been just a simple coincidence and felt like he could kick himself.

"Aw man, those badniks all over the country were a distraction!" He raised his voice, annoyed that he didn't get that sooner.

"It's fine, I'll just deal with this and be back before you can say another one of your childish catchphr-"

"'kay, see you in a sonic second!"

Shadow was not amused with his partner's attempt at humor.

"Like I said, I'll be back soon. Don't know why we still bother with displaying the emeralds in museums anyway. They are the least secure locations to keep them at." And with those final parting words, Sonic's date for tonight teleported himself away with the two famous words, 'Chaos' and 'Control'.

With a sigh Sonic entered his home, which was unlocked as Shadow figured he would be back soon anyway as his fight with Eggman was over, and accepted the fact that he now had to wait for him to come back.

Sonic settled on the couch, absentmindedly noting that things were a lot more orderly then when he had left an hour ago, and grabbed his soda.

Shadow didn't like it when Sonic interfered with his missions. So all he could really do was sit here and wait, briefly wondering if he should grab his phone and see if Shadow would mind giving him a live report of his mission through texts.

There wasn't much else to do without him around anyway. Not when Sonic was this tired.

* * *

And not only was Shadow quicker than Sonic at the scene of the crime thanks to his ability to teleport from one place to another, but he got back quicker aswell.

Just like G.U.N had told him, a newer and more stealthier set of badnicks had been send to the museum while Sonic had been kept busy to steal the red Chaos Emerald from a rock show collection they had going on there.

As expected of Mobius' one and only Ultimate Lifeform, this was swiftly taken care off and the emerald was taken back and handed over to the military for them to protect from now on until the next time it would inevitably get stolen by Dr. Eggman.

Sonic always thought it was awesome to see his mate at work. He was an amazing fighter, incredibly fast, and it was hilarious to him whenever someone made the mistake of underestimating the now well-known Shadow Robotnik. A part of him regretted promising that he would no longer interfere with his work because he would have had tons of excuses just to come along to watch.

Or maybe he would just be too distracting. That was the very reason Shadow decided to make him stay away in the first place.

Shadow took care of the problem that was Ivo 'Egghead' Robotnik and came to his lover's house to continue that relaxing date one ahd promised the other.

Watching him drop back down on the couch next to him and releasing a tired sigh, Sonic turned the channel back to the one with their game and gazed at his crimson eyes.

"Yeah, I'm still up for it." Though the work of today and the past week had been tiring, Shadow was still up for his first session of gaming.

While he reselected everything for the both of them, Sonic got something new and cooler to drink.

But they barely even got through the first race, Shadow proving just how fast of a learner he could be when victory over the Hero of Mobius himself was the motivation, before Sonic's phone started vibrating like crazy all over again.

Pausing the race, his mate gave the phone a barely hidden glare as Sonic picked it up to take another look.

Eggman. Again.

It would seem like he convinced the public to send some personalized messages about how this was his revenge for ruining a perfectly good plan as Tails' app had also come with a messaging system with which bystanders could tell the heroes exactly what was going on with each alert.

One look at Sonic told Shadow all that he needed to know.

"I'll come with in case it's another ruse." He decided with a sigh as he got back up from the couch, hoping to at least shorten the amount of time it was most likely going to take to destroy all of Eggman's robots.

Sonic hoped his help could cut the time spend on this battle at least in half. At this rate they were never going to have that relaxing game night he had been planning for over a week now.

* * *

"Seriously, Egghead?! It's Saturday! I was trying to enjoy a nice and quiet evening with Shadow before you showed up!" The first thing the hero true and blue did when the duo arrived downtown was yell at his archnemesis after kicking a robot in the head. Meanwhile his boyfriend opted to vent his frustrations out on the badniks infesting the plaza. His scowl spoke volumes.

"You think I didn't know that?! That was the whole point, you pest!" Eggman showed pure anger now that his carefully planned scheme had been ruined and his foe knew that this time he would not go down as easily as earlier that same day.

His palm heating up with an imminent Chaos Spear, Shadow could be heard growling somewhere in the background. Just like Sonic, he had also counted on having this one single evening to themselves.

Just one evening. Was that truly too much to ask?

Apparently it was.

"I'll take all the bots on the West and the North side of the plaza. You take the East and the South. It's closer to Eggman." Shadow told Sonic as he passed in that same commanding tone he usually reserved for work.

Sonic couldn't the fight the smirk as it appeared, cracking his knuckles in preparation. He was about to give these bots the beating of a lifetime and Ivo Robotnik was soon to follow.

They just had to make this quick. Maybe they could still enjoy their evening if they did.

* * *

Sonic and Shadow returned close to midnight as the battle took much longer than they could've ever imagined. Eggman wanted his wrath to be known and showed up with every badnick he might still have in his arsenal after his failed plan from earlier that same evening.

Both of the hedgehogs were drained, dropping down on the couch and sighing deeply almost simultaneously. Even the Ultimate Lifeform, created to have a stamina to last much longer in battle, was feeling worn and in need of some rest.

"That... should not have taken as long as it did." He spoke up, breaking the silence in the room.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be done in a jiffy, but apparently I was wrong." Arms crossed and frown present, Sonic's mood was a foul one as he replied.

After this brief exchange silence once again stretched on and neither even attempted to speak another word. The game sat there, ignored for now, as the two hedgehogs attempted to recuperate some energy. Their two battles with Eggman had not been the only ones of today, of this week, and it was all crashing down on them in that very moment.

That did not mean their original plan was off the table, however.

"So," Sonic looked over to his mate, who had his eyes closed for the moment prior to hearing him speak.

"You still up for an actual gaming session?" He asked and a slight smile appeared on the darker hedgehog's muzzle.

"Wait a minute..." Shadow suggested and the two took a moment to simply wait and see.

When the minutes passed and nothing seemed to happen, he spoke up.

"I think the coast might be clear now." Shadow said as he sat up straight, Sonic following his example as he got up to turn the console back on.

Maybe this was finally it. Their late date could begin.

Alas, fate would have none of that.

"Oh, come on!" Shadow yelped in frustration wen his phone suddenly started to ring the moment he picked up his player-2 controller, Sonic hanging his head in defeat next to him.

And upon picking it up and watching the screen lit up to state 'Jerkface From Work' was calling him, he knew this was also something he couldn't ignore.

Sonic, noticing the name of the caller, gave him a teasing look. Shadow didn't even need to hear him speak, for he could already hear the taunts in his head.

"I chose this name when I was sixteen years old and kept it, lay off!" He still figured it would be wise to stop the cobalt one before he could even open his mouth, though it did not keep him from cackling to himself.

"We're doomed, aren't we?" Shadow continued to ask his significant other, his phone still ringing in his hand. He decided 'Jerkface' could wait for a little while longer.

"We might be, but there will still be other nights. Or we could pick this up tomorrow." Sonic shrugged, honestly starting to believe they might be cursed.

With a deep sigh did Shadow leave his seat and the living room to take the call in privacy, already answering on the way. Sonic was left alone to wonder just who he had pissed off to be punished in this way.

* * *

It soon turned out that cleaning up after the battle with Eggman wasn't going as smoothly as it should be as some shady figures tried to make off with some of the rotund doctor's technology. Though they could never hope to use or even understand its complexity, Eggtech was sold at high prices on the blackmarket and one of the buyers just might know what to do with it.

So Shadow had been called away to meet with Rouge and E-123 Omega to track the suspects down. As they were long gone by the time the trio arrived, it took quite a while of searching and chasing.

They counted themselves lucky that most of Eggman's technology could be tracked down. Or this missions could've taken days or even weeks.

Not that it mattered much to Shadow. It was already long past midnight by the time he warped himself back to his boyfriend's house, silently noting that constantly using his Chaos Energy really did not help his rapidly draining stamina.

But upon returning, he could hear a familiar and young voice coming from the living room. Tails was already home and talking excitedly. His words were muffled because of the walls and so inaudible.

The young fox came running into the hallway, nearly bumping into the dark hedgehog on accident.

"Oh, hey Shadow! I woke him up for you, so you should still be able to play that game you wanted to try out!" Tails greeted him briefly before moving on up the stairs. Weither he was in a rush or just wanted to grant the two of them some extra peace and alone time, Shadow was not sure. But he was grateful for it.

"I'm back. Finally. It took Rouge and I much longer to catch them all than we would've liked." The darker hedgehog said as he entered the living room and found his boyfriend sitting there on the couch, slumped and trying his best to keep his heavy eyes open.

"Hey Shad! Still up for a game?" Sonic asked him with a smile, not even trying to sit up straight anymore as he already knew the answer to that question.

Sighing, Shadow made his way over to sit next to him, plopping down and then resting his head on blue's shoulder while the other wrapped an arm around his. Soon settled and comfortable, both of them allowed themselves to doze off.

"We'll just try again some other day." The darker hedgehog finally responded and Sonic gave an agreeing hum before he slipped away.

Today had been a trying one and once again their plans fell through simply because of their choice of careers, but they could always try again later.


End file.
